


Close Calls

by wrothmothking



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrothmothking/pseuds/wrothmothking
Summary: Things get pretty rough out there.





	Close Calls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jkit45](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jkit45/gifts).



Duck, run, _move_. Breathe. Take the shot.

The fiend crumbles, its arm still outstretched towards where she'd been. Vetra leans against a crate and thinks of Sid until her heart stops racing. She should call her when she gets back to the Tempest.

Cora jogs up beside her, still looking perfect after a day of close calls. Weren't humans supposed to _sweat_? "You alright?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Peachy."

"Reinforcements incoming!" Ryder--where?

"Oh, hell," Cora says.

"Will they ever leave Eos alone?" Ryder shouts, sliding into cover nearby. An anointed thunders after. Break's over, back to the grind.

The three of them focus on the anointed, bringing it down fast. The chosen fall easily; it's just a matter of minding her shields and-

A shimmer in the air. She doubts-- _damn her_ , but she doubts--and it's all the opening the thing needs to stab her.

Blue washes over her. Her blood? It's not supposed to glow. And, shouldn't it be darker?

"Vetra's down!"

She hadn't faced a destined that wouldn't go for the long shot, before. Stupid to assume; they're aliens, not animals. Individuals prefer different strategies.

* * *

Vetra was used to waking up in strange places, and she was a light sleeper who perhaps put more trust in herself--namely her inebriated self--than was wise. So, the distant footsteps, the sharp scent of chemicals, the _tap tap tap_ of someone on a machine next to her, they don't concern her. What does concern her was the hollow ache in her left ribs and the grogginess that must be painkillers. She'd been injured, and someone had taken it upon themselves to drug her. Irritating. Probably for the best, though.

It takes her eyes a long, painful minute to adjust to the bright lights of medical. A face, a beautiful human face she doesn't know the words to describe, smiles down on her with kind brown eyes. _Cora_.

"Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?"

That sounded like a reference. Vetra decides to take it as a compliment. "Miss me?"

"More than I could bear," she teases. "Ryder's out with Drack and Jaal. Liam was here, but Lexi kidnapped him to test out the new development projects."

"Without me?" Vetra stretches her arms out to brace herself for getting up, but-

"Oh, no. _You_ are on medical leave. Five days."

"Two days."

"This isn't a negotiation."

"I can get you roses."

"Tempting, but no."

Damn. With a huff, she lets herself slump back on the bed. "Care to buy me a drink, stranger?"

"One water coming up."

Once Vetra's sat up and hydrated, Cora asks, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Really."

Cora nods. Stiffly. There's a tension there, now, curling up her neck and winding over her chest and strangling her heart. It's sudden, it's strong, it's brewing uneasiness in Vetra's gut. Cora's lips thin.

She notices.

Such an odd thing, to be noticed. Vetra's not sure how she feels about it.

"It's not bad, I just...I wanted to apologize."

Vetra scoffs. "What for?"

"Between the fiend and the destined...They both almost got you, and I should have been there."

"Pretty sure the destined _did_ get me."

"You're still alive, aren't you? And before you went down you managed to put a hole in his head."

"I don't remember that." They're off track. The point of this little discussion hangs between them. Sighing, Vetra says, "You can't be everywhere at once, Cora." If she feels annoyed at being the one to offer comfort when she is the one injured, she tries her best to bury it. And if a bit of bitterness slinks through, a hateful whisper of, _'Even when it's about me it really isn't,'_ well, her baggage is hardly Cora's fault, so she ignores it.

"You're part of a team now. It shouldn't be up to you to save yourself."

"Yeah, well..."

"I'll be there next time." In the harsh glare of her lights, her pale skin and bright eyes make her look feverish. "My abilities are useless if I can't stop these monsters, or _anything_ , from getting to you."

Vetra looks at her, looks long and hard. "You were really shaken, huh."

"I don't want to lose another family, Vetra. I refuse to. The moment one of use drops, it all comes crashing down. And you, you might be able to keep the team going, for the Nexus and the angara, so it _absolutely cannot_ be you that dies."

"Why am I so important?"

"You know Andromeda. You know people, and grief, and disappointment, and fear. You're made of steel and stardust and the world shapes itself by your will. You are something powerful, cunning, indomitable. Kind, compassionate."

There are tears in her eyes. Words bubble in her throat, but she doesn't speak further. The whisper fades; Vetra doesn't need to hear Cora wax poetic about her character further to know in this moment that she is so very loved.

"No pressure."

Cora laughs. "Just a bit, but I'll help."

"Have to say, I didn't expect you to be sweet on me."

"Sweet on you?!"

Vetra's first instinct is to dismiss it as a joke--as it was intended to be--but Cora's pinkened cheeks and wide-eyed alarm inspire a different response.

So, leaning close and lowering her voice to a whisper, Vetra says, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm sweet on you, too."

Cora scowls at her with the most befuddled expression Vetra's seen.

Then, something seems to click. "That's quite the situation. What do you propose we do about it?"

"What do people usually do?"

"Well, _date,_ but with everything going on I'm not sure it's the best idea. If something were to go wrong between us, it would be horrible for squad cohesion. It could get somebody killed."

_'Maybe after,'_ a part of Vetra wants to say. But truth be told, she's tired of waiting to start her life. She was feeling brave today.

"I don't think either of us is the type to let personal issues get in the way of a job." Perhaps not the best way to phrase it, but there it is. And: "What would it do for squad unity if things went right for once?"

"It would be a distraction."

"Am I not already a distraction?"

Cora averts her eyes. Sighs, but with a smile. "When you want something, you just don't back down, do you?"

"It's worked well for me so far." Minus a few incidents, which were better kept out of mind for now. "If you don't actually want to deal with me and my shit, that's alright."

"Oh, there's no higher privilege. But we are talking to Ryder first."

"You know that won't be a problem." 


End file.
